Prophecy se-1

by T C Southwell

  A golden light appeared in the dingy alley ahead, forming a nimbus that brightened to blinding intensity, forcing her to squint and avert her eyes. She stumbled to a halt, panting. The light vanished, and a man, clad mostly in black, with a grey, knee-length coat, stood there. She gaped at him. Although he remained immobile, in this hostile place she could only assume he was an enemy. His appearance from the golden light made her wonder if he was another alien, or if the autocrats had discovered this odd mode of travel.

  If he was an alien, Earth was becoming rife with them. His appearance did not change her situation, however. The guards would reach her momentarily. Letting her aching legs fold, she sank down gasping and waited for the guards' rough hands to drag her to her feet. Instead, the unmistakable hum of a laser bolt blazed over her, filling the alley with shimmering blue light. Shouts came from behind her, and she glanced back. Two guards lay still on the ground. Another brilliant beam crisped the air overhead, and a third man collapsed with a strangled cry. The last guard tried to aim his weapon as yet another vicious buzz and flash of blue light passed over her. He crumpled with a hoarse cough, and a tense silence fell.

  Rayne stared at the sprawled bodies, hardly daring to breathe, then turned to face the man who had killed them. He stood there still, his grey coat flaring in the breeze that stirred scraps of paper and made them dance along the grimy tar. He holstered his laser, the soft click loud in the stillness.

  Rayne stared at him with deep trepidation. If he came after her, she did not have the strength to run. He was too far away for her to make out any details, and the gloom made him little more than a shadow. His black clothes did not have the cheap shine of an autocrat's garments, nor did he act like a raider.

  Considering the startling way in which he had arrived, she did not think he was either. His strange method of travel and odd inaction mystified her. She was usually good at sensing people's moods, but he appeared neither impatient nor hesitant; he seemed to merely study her. He glanced up, and she glimpsed the alien profile of what appeared to be a black mask, then golden light engulfed him, forcing her to avert her eyes. When she looked again, he had vanished.

  Scrambling to her feet, she glanced around with deep suspicion, but only papers scuttled past in the breeze. She took a moment to recover from the shock while her heart slowed and her breathing became less painful, swallowing to ease her throat's dry rawness. Then she headed back up the alley and collected the guards' weapons before stepping over the bodies to pick up her food.

  A few blocks away, she sat down to eat, glancing around with fearful, hunted eyes. These mysterious beings or people who appeared and vanished were becoming unnerving, and, even though they had helped her twice, she wished they would leave her alone. Perhaps they would when she found Rawn. When strength returned to her limbs, she set off once more in search of her brother, hoping she found him before hunger forced her to raid another food store.

  Rawn woke shivering and crawled out of the musty blankets to sit in the sun's feeble warmth. He cursed the many abuses this cruel world heaped upon his head daily, adding one more to the list. Now he was not only hungry, dirty, cold and weary, but lonely as well. He watched a group of vagrants trying to catch a rat in the filth. The mutated rodents were the size of rabbits, but still slim pickings for four people. Three ragged, skinny men and a woman, brown with dirt, chased the rat with starved desperation. The woman gave a thin cackle of delight as she caught it, which turned into a squeal of pain when it bit her. She dropped it, and the men groaned in despair as it dived into a storm drain. One cuffed her, growling something unintelligible.

  Rawn's lips twisted in disgust as he looked away. It turned his stomach to watch them. They were human, or at least they used to be; now they were worse than animals. Would he end up like them when the food stores emptied? The group shuffled off down the street, kicking the piles of rubbish heaped against the walls in search of another rat. A sudden urge to quit the city took hold of him, and he jumped up. He would go to the meeting place. Rayne was bound to go there eventually, if she was not already there, waiting for him. Either that or the autocrats had captured her, in which case he would never see her again. He set off at a run.

  Rayne headed across the city, unsure of where she was going. As she walked through a building, a crash nearby made her jump and sprint out of the nearest door, where she collided with someone. She recoiled, preparing to flee, then recognised Rawn with a rush of relief and joy.

  He shouted in delight and swept her into his arms, squeezing her until her ribs creaked. She gasped and pounded on his back until he held her away to study her.

  "Thank God you're all right. I've been looking everywhere for you."

  "Me too! What happened to you?"

  Rawn laughed. "What happened to me? I went to the grove to meet you, but you never came! What happened to you?"

  "I was attacked…" She broke off as Rawn glanced around. "Let's get out off the street, huh? We'll find a spot where we can talk. Do you have any food? I'm starved."

  She gave him a food bar as they entered a building.

  When the girl bumped into a man, it surprised Tallyn. The spy-cam, following her, did not spot the stranger until it exited the building behind her, by which time she was already enfolded in the man's arms. Tallyn opened his mouth to order his weapons' officer to protect her, then shut it when it became apparent that they knew each other, and she was pleased to meet him.

  After the previous incident, when the officer assigned to watch her had been distracted and missed the store guards' chase, only returning to the screen in time to see her stepping over four corpses, Tallyn had taken to watching her himself. How she had killed the guards remained a mystery, for she did not have a weapon, as far as he knew. Yet she must have acquired one since her confrontation with the mutants. How else had she killed the men?

  He studied the man and turned to his lieutenant. "Our girl's guardian? What do you think?"

  Marcon nodded. "Looks like her brother, sir."

  "Yes, he does, doesn't he? I wonder if he is."

  Tallyn scrutinised the new man, who was another excellent specimen of humanity with no signs of disease, but most importantly, someone she knew. Now he knew that this was what he had been waiting for. All his instincts told him that now it was time to bring her aboard. He turned to Marcon.

  "Deploy the transfer Net. Put them straight into the isolation cell in sick bay, full quarantine. Use a mild tranquilliser gas and start decontamination. We don't want to give them too many shocks at once."

  Marcon nodded, signalling to a crewman, who touched the crystals on his console. The spy-cam’s screen went blank as the tiny floating camera was recalled, and moments later the main screen filled with an image from one of the ship's on-board cameras.

  The energy shell's golden glow faded as the Net dispersed to reveal two confused humans in a pale room. They clung to each other with wide eyes, then relaxed as the tranquilliser gas took effect.

  Tallyn glanced at Marcon. "We'll let them recover for a while, I think."

  On his way to his quarters, he wondered how they would react to their translocation. The tranquilliser gas would calm the male's aggression, so his primitive projectile weapon did not pose a threat. Tallyn was more concerned that the transfer's shock would make the girl overwrought.

  Chapter Four

  Rayne studied the strange room, her heart thudding. She had flung herself at Rawn when the golden light engulfed them, her skin prickling with static power. The glow had faded to reveal the odd white room. Rawn had held her with one arm while he drew his gun and glanced around, then a wave of dizziness had washed over her, along with a slight sensation of detachment. Several minutes had passed since then, and Rawn studied the featureless walls with a scowl, hefting his gun.

  "Where are we?" Rayne's whisper was a thread of sound in a pit of silence.

  Rawn muttered, "Out of the frying pan and in the fire."

  "What?"

  "I d
on't know." He released her and went over to the nearest wall, running his hand over its silky smooth surface. "This is weird."

  Rayne sank to the floor as shock drained the last of her energy and her stomach knotted. After so much hardship and struggle, she had thought her life was about to return to normal. The confusing and possibly dangerous situation had ousted her joy at finding Rawn. She rubbed hot tears from her stinging eyes as the possible ramifications of this new and inexplicable predicament overwhelmed her. Rawn prowled the room, testing the walls and finding them solid, apparently.

  "I don't know where we are, but this isn't the work of the autocrats," he muttered. "They don't have this kind of technology."

  "Then who? The aliens?"

  Rawn frowned at her. "What aliens?"

  Rayne told him about the scarlet saucer, the white-clad man, and the two incidents since then. It sounded bizarre even to her, but Rawn listened with a wrinkled brow. When she finished, he remained tight-lipped, unable to offer any explanation. Telling her tale made their situation seem more threatening, and she wondered if whoever had captured them was listening.

  A tense hour dragged by while they waited for something to happen. Rawn pacing the room, then holstered his gun and sat beside her. They relaxed as the vertigo lessened and fatigue set in. Rayne struggled to keep her eyes open, although Rawn told her to sleep. She jerked into nerve-jangling wakefulness when a soft hum and swish broke the tomb-like silence. A section of seamless wall slid back to reveal an alcove with a basin and toilet. After Rawn inspected it, Rayne used it to refresh herself with cool water. As soon as Rawn had used it, the door swished shut again. Moments later, a narrow beam of purple light swept across the cell, making Rayne's skin crawl. Rawn banged on the wall and swore at their unseen captors.

  "Any more stunts like that, and I'll shoot a hole in the wall," he promised.

  "I don't think you can do much to them."

  "We'll see about that."

  A few minutes later, just as they relaxed again, another section of the wall slid back to reveal two glasses of clear liquid. Rawn eyed the beverages, lifted a glass and sniffed it.

  "Smells like water."

  "We had water from the basin," she pointed out. "Unless we weren't supposed to drink that."

  "But I think we're supposed to drink this."

  "Why?"

  He shrugged. "It's probably got medicine in it." He put the glass down. "Whatever it is, I don't want it." He glared around at the walls. "You hear me, you bastards out there? We won't co-operate until we get an explanation. Show yourselves, you cowards! We're not animals, so stop treating us like them!"

  Rayne tugged his arm. "Stop it! We don't want to make them mad."

  "They're making me mad."

  "They might be the ones who helped me."

  "Well they're not acting very bloody friendly now."

  Another strained silence fell as they waited for a response to Rawn's outburst and their refusal to drink the water. Undoubtedly they were being watched, and Rayne was sure it would only be a matter of time before their captors were forced to communicate with them. The response came sooner than she expected, in the form of a soft masculine voice that spoke in oddly accented English.

  "We apologise for the quarantine's necessity. Unfortunately, if you wish to meet us, you must drink the liquid in the glasses."

  Rawn yelled back, "Where are we? What do you want?"

  "You are aboard a space ship called Vengeance, and we wish you no harm," the disembodied voice said.

  "Why have you kidnapped us?"

  "That will be explained once you have imbibed the medicine."

  "What does it do?" Rawn demanded.

  "It is merely to eradicate unwanted bacteria that could be harmful to our health. Your world is, unfortunately, an unhealthy place. Once you have drunk the medicine, you will be released after a set period of time."

  "And if we refuse?"

  "That is not an option we are prepared to accept. Eventually you will become thirsty and drink the medication. Obstinacy will merely prolong your incarceration."

  Rawn glared around at the walls. "I could shoot my way out of here!"

  "No. Any attempt to use your weapon will be countered by an increase in tranquilliser gas. I urge you to co-operate."

  "I'll bet you do!" Rawn shouted. "But why should I co-operate with you, huh?"

  "Because you wish to leave the room," the voice stated.

  "But I don't want to be bullied by the likes of you!"

  Rayne gripped his arm. "Stop it. Let's just drink the medicine. This is a pointless argument."

  "How do we know it isn't poison?" he demanded.

  "Why would they bring us here to poison us? They could have killed us any time."

  "Maybe they want to use us in some kind of experiment, like damned guinea pigs."

  She shook her head. "I don't think so, but what choice do we have? Like he said, they'll just keep us locked in here until we get so thirsty we drink it. Let's rather do it now and get it over with. There's really nothing else we can do."

  "You're too damned fatalistic, Ray. I could shoot a hole -"

  "No you couldn't, and even if you did, what then? If we're aboard a space ship, there's nowhere to run, is there?"

  Rawn let the gun drop to his side, his shoulders slumping. "Guess not, if that's true. But I don't like this. It's all too damned neat and prepared, as if it was planned. I feel like we're in a damned laboratory. And I'll tell you this, if I start to feel sick, I will shoot my way out of here and take a few of those bastards with me."

  Rayne glanced up at the walls. "Will the medicine make us sick?"

  "No," the voice replied. "Side effects should be minimal. At worst, some cramps and diarrhoea may result."

  Rayne picked up a glass and drained it.

  He watched her. "What does it taste like?"

  She shrugged. "Water."

  Rawn drank his, and they settled down to wait again. This time they passed the hours in silence, and Rayne dozed against Rawn's shoulder. They jumped when a door slid open again, revealing a larger bathroom with two shower cubicles. Two sets of grey one-piece clothing were folded on a shelf next a pair of fluffy white towels. Rawn glanced at his sister.

  "I suppose the inference is pretty obvious."

  "We smell."

  "Undoubtedly, but do they have to be so blatant?"

  She smiled. "Well, having cleaned out our insides, they have to do the outsides too."

  The soft male voice spoke again. "You have already been externally decontaminated. The cleaning facilities are for your comfort. We have tried to simulate your method of washing. We hope you find the facilities adequate."

  Rayne gazed at the showers. "It's been a long time since I had a shower, especially a warm one."

  Rawn frowned. "Our method of washing? What kind of aliens are these?"

  The voice said, "We are what you would call humanoids, similar to you in many respects, but we have various means of washing that would be strange and possibly alarming to you."

  "Us primitives, you mean," Rawn snapped.

  Rayne poked him. "Will you quit arguing with him? I don't give a fig how they wash. I want a shower."

  "He sounds like one of those damned fairy airline stewards. They always bugged me."

  "Well, I'm going to have a shower."

  He grabbed her arm as she started towards the cubicles. "You seem to be very damned trusting all of a sudden. What if this is just a way to separate us?"

  "We can shower together, if you prefer, but I think they can do pretty much what they like with us, and there's really nothing we could do to stop them. They could have knocked us unconscious with their gas if they chose, taken away your gun, stripped and tied us up, but they haven't. If they're going to treat us well, then I, for one, am going to co-operate. They're not autocrats, so let's see what they want before judging them."

  His eyes narrowed. "You're being too calm about this."

  "It
must be the tranquilliser they gave us. There's really no point in being upset, is there?"

  "Guess not," he muttered. "You shower first then. I'll stand guard."

  "Okay." She headed for the shower cubicles, shedding her clothes.

  Tallyn switched off the monitor and sat back, frowning. The girl was perhaps a little more intelligent than her companion. By opting to stand guard, the man had foiled his intention of removing the weapon, but it was not a serious setback. It meant their first encounter would require a stress screen between them to thwart any attempt by the man to take a hostage, until he could be persuaded to give up his weapon. He seemed hostile and potentially dangerous, a trait common amongst human males. It meant Tallyn might have to separate them, and possibly keep the man confined until he co-operated. The first contact mediator was doing a good job. The girl, at least, was responding well to his overtures. He switched on the monitor again.

  The girl was in the shower still, and clouds of steam rolled from under the frosted glass door. The man, Rawn, stood outside, his expression bitterly truculent. After a few minutes, the girl emerged wrapped in a towel, and donned the smaller of the two grey outfits, which fitted her well. She rubbed her hair dry, then took the projectile weapon from the man while he went to shower.

  When she moved into the main part of the cell, Tallyn decided it was time to act. He jumped up and left the bridge to hurry along the corridor to the hospital. He wanted to speak to the girl before the man re-emerged. When he arrived in the spacious, clean room with its faint odour of antiseptic, the mediator, Egan, rose and saluted. Two doctors, who watched the humans over his shoulder, straightened.

  "Relax, Ensign Egan," Tallyn said. "I want to speak to the girl." He turned to the two guards who stood at the hospital's entrance. "You two, set up a stress screen."

  The guards brought over a portable screen and placed it in front of the cell's door. It looked like a metal door frame, and was to protect him should the girl try to shoot him. The stress screen's alternating layers of charged air molecules formed a shimmer that would deflect a projectile.